DeSoto Animal Rescue puts on the dog with Bonne Terre party

As ordained pastors, Harry Mathewson and his wife, Debby, know well the words of Psalms 12:10: "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."

Today, the couple and the organization they represent, the DeSoto Animal Rescue Society, will put scripture into action with the first A Furry Affair, a fundraiser for the nonprofit foster home group to be held at the Bonne Terre Country Inn and Restaurant.

Longtime animal lovers, over their 31 years together the Mathewsons have made it their mission to care and find homes for as many forgotten and neglected pets as they could.

"We're well up into the thousands as far as how many we've come into touch with and tried to re-home," says Harry Mathewson, who has to stop and think for a moment when asked how many pets the couple owns: at least 12. "We just take care of all creatures great and small."

For the past few years, the Mathewsons have coordinated their efforts through the DeSoto Animal Rescue Society. Founded 12 years ago, the society, made up of about 30 volunteers, works in partnership with the county's five animal shelters to rescue, spay and neuter, foster, and eventually find homes for more than 300 animals a year.

With no shelter of its own, the group operates on a bare-bones budget of $85,000 a year.

"I know last year almost of $70,000 of that went to veterinarian care alone," says Mathewson, who is currently the organization's president.

The society has held fundraisers in the past, including an annual Spay-ghetti supper and a fall dog walk in Olive Branch Park, but today's event represents the group's first foray into up-scale benefits.

"This is something very different for us," says Mathewson. "We've never done anything quite on this level. "

The Furry Affair will feature hors d'oeuvres and refreshments with music by the GBGs. There will also be a silent auction featuring, among other things, a night's stay at Bonne Terre, a Zoom teeth-whitening visit at DeSoto Family Dental Care, and a heart screening from Stern Cardiovascular Center.

The Furry Affair is the idea of Emily and Robert Rygg, who took over the 23-acre bed and breakfast last summer. Emily Rygg recently brought a stray dog to one of the Saturday adoption day events the group regularly holds at area pet stores. To thank the organization for helping care for and find a home for the dog, which she had named Jack, Rygg offered to host a fundraiser.

The funding could not come at a better time, Mathewson says. Since the recession has left many pet owners financially strapped, the group has seen an increase in the number of pets that are unwanted or abandoned.

"We get on the average of seven or eight calls a day from people seeking information or help," he says. "A good number of those calls, more than half, are from people who are no longer able to keep their animals because their situation has changed or people who have taken in an animal and cannot keep it."